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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题

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发表于 2010-2-24 15:48 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
老杨团队,追求完美;客户至上,服务到位!
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 w( U* f' t2 O7 n/ k% z* b9 |0 L
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 b) k% w' ]3 ?8 J' V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ _/ P- j7 G5 D
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 d4 e2 T0 x. _! K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( B; j- m4 s& p9 {"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential  S% ?! ?; ]' _* c' B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 [1 M6 J% v& UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 _6 u! f" ]7 E0 c8 [  eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 T$ n5 w) b4 B" v! q. |% k1 itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; n) o1 g/ J2 M% q  }6 {+ g" mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 n, e8 F& K) K7 I' Y: I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( ~* n& K7 J3 A7 ~8 Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 c+ Y; f! l4 }1 e# z, ], Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 E2 W: ]. ]2 f9 Q3 pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could  D. z( R% @$ O4 c# q" I
not stop her runaway Lexus.& y1 B* e. W8 V6 j9 `1 X% F
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 i! O0 A4 e; R2 Y" _
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( E* H* u0 i2 H5 C"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 x0 ^5 u/ X0 B& c& V$ ], l, P
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' a* M9 Y+ J4 E+ _( c6 f% x' l
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ t/ ?8 |* d- \% F0 f; e"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 r! e2 @" P% O& k& V1 I  l4 P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: }2 d9 u8 L7 b7 i" ]5 X" V5 M; V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. s+ r& x8 [3 w/ Ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": f: {0 C; q3 _/ H8 n
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 \* \+ k' @+ a! ?' Qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' b- [  p; J$ {# B3 u+ bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; r# S, [) X/ L% V* h8 p! i& X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 J& H6 X  I% E2 ?! {0 M$ K* }0 J1 r
said.) L6 K# o1 q% R6 S7 J8 m/ A' A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 }1 Q. c# X$ m8 T4 T, N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 T+ y8 g! @6 J* r3 e- t" W
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 o: q3 Y; v6 _+ y# |% K9 H" W
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. f  M5 I( a, c) D# p% |3 y2 j
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 {: e; |& n/ A; ~  n- grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 u! I# m: |8 _9 B- D. U  y9 amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ S4 N0 C5 _2 I* j7 a3 \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% |7 d- a+ ~* D7 p2 O2 ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' l3 e3 v$ y8 {" m5 Vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: A0 v: z+ U& H. Rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 `3 |/ T5 Q( k. `$ J) y
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- X& |1 Y& t) h' S
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& s1 z' w5 H) |+ l: tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 |6 }2 G# H5 _$ h+ _2 {% d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 @( [! E1 e0 ~1 o3 T, jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 h2 z$ l; r+ q) e, I" b  l- ^understood the pain.
$ d' t+ `0 r7 J5 B3 z"I know what those families go through," he said.1 Z) n8 n& R1 s. v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# E  T& O4 E5 G3 g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' ~. x' o0 w0 W/ h& r' ~& @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' v/ D& w: b" nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 r. r6 [5 K8 \1 J$ Yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* b1 a0 }) w: Y* kLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 ]  W) P0 B* S$ k5 ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) D% M  G. J# a$ c' y& }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
  b* x+ _2 O, R9 D5 I! g1 H. ~! KToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 K7 S; E+ A" vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
# [. b% r% O* Y: b- ^vehicles already on the road." z* N1 R  `0 q+ F. {9 n! H. x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 j3 H( d1 h1 Y+ U% Q3 ^5 @% `6 y: sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! S% l6 X- {! y2 K7 Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" _1 U7 f' m3 D+ j
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 ?% }  v/ t- t& Z& E8 a& p6 Jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 M# P1 ~% I* c& V# o"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
  j: D! l9 ]+ r* A4 g3 Y1 Ntragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 i! d4 X8 Y+ c3 t& B$ i3 Y! E- _
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! H# j" z& L. X) J, I3 k* lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& D  `5 z# q% z% j  A; [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 G: E! y% l. j* trestore the trust of our customers."4 y0 c+ U" a, {# v8 P/ Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; i2 g, k$ w* D! nSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 m) t5 x  D6 X  l# A1 f" Z  tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. T" R% d  r$ ~* l" v( v% {. zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& _( W* @4 @8 E2 ~0 w0 t, @, qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' {- Z* x* n  E- P& ^that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( k+ p7 Q9 j+ C2 Aturn off the engine.
9 `3 R: N$ Z8 x1 u3 D' M$ ~Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 q6 T0 ^0 O( a. @* kOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ ?- Z* w0 p4 S0 y* b
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* i* i9 _- O- o2 C) v' a
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* J5 l- R9 L2 O+ E; Ito her complaints.% d$ q+ z, ~( B
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 s' n/ |" e! x2 A+ a. h; o/ l# [! b
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic* B& K+ v- o# w: L
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 N8 J, N6 J5 {3 s' t- S- w3 H# ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ ^0 o1 K* {8 kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 ]. `6 q! c( H
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; [" W- U. ^4 h/ W# W2 n5 @off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 ]0 v  F$ t& @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( ^& Y  O$ ]  ^1 \& R% M) K
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
  Y! d' J0 u- A" D. l8 n* I9 obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% L) B6 |& v$ C8 C% y: Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, L' v8 u  r; K' q! Yevery question."8 w$ Z! d, l7 e$ y) w$ }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: N2 K" q' {6 ]% P( o) O2 Yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" o$ |- @$ f/ x3 [- \
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- g8 p8 H+ ^% h+ ?$ Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 ?4 O( `5 i$ U$ {% Q* ~7 Qnumber of vehicles4 W3 q7 \2 _+ a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; N; A* T: b- J; cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% C# }2 N" c# Tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ e  ]& p, |- j2 k& ~6 M+ _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
0 f, X9 O) n. O9 _% w  o2 }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 \6 k6 x7 H( E5 v% \! K# T+ @( O! e, J% A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ r: S0 b, K! f, t
trace at all.
' b3 q3 [2 H1 e1 C+ iHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. ~7 l& y; E# v& G" \7 ^
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, ?% C5 B0 ]* j+ D: J! Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the  P; c- m/ r2 b3 d: N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% T. f0 U! D* k1 FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! }1 Y, M. G# U5 b6 T3 {2 @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 X/ d% @* H% o  Y% Nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 a/ s9 q2 W; R$ j# d
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, [0 _- E' k' lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: X6 G2 r7 y8 y  b* m8 L
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 _( g3 Z1 o2 H( Q  [5 q- C9 W; b
by Toyota's lawyers."8 {* p3 h% C$ T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( x; V9 G# s/ Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our  y- p  ^. [: y0 J5 g/ _0 B- j6 y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 `' Z, w! T% @0 G: K# qsaid.! f% x. _7 n( S, Y3 }
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* {5 _4 s* f" O; z4 U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 Y: u" i% t1 V/ J% u6 bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 B% Z! w7 `4 V, Z3 l. B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! z1 W" K5 a' G# X3 R1 ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, N$ A) n0 r  Y( j) q1 V+ @
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# o) {& v' v  l6 |! H: T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 r9 z' o1 @3 J1 @( D; eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's  _2 t6 h/ S6 E9 k8 }+ I  }1 J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 y5 c! ?: d1 V# gChrysler.) T& {/ D$ b$ _$ ^( ]
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 _) j4 d# v* r5 z; Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& ~/ R; I5 U- H% _9 G6 zHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, q# j4 }9 u  s4 K
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: }2 X* l, B6 x& @. @9 Z- g) U' Lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% h/ j* R# r0 t& j. [; |
tough."
; Z. `  i' c, h: d4 n2 b& I---+ M7 s' W( M  \$ B2 J8 n$ u: V  q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! `2 r$ q1 b% M& o) B1 q  O, D
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 I3 r- a  f+ h9 n
this story.
7 v, e" a" \& V5 p. W4 h* b  H: `( J8 e6 V
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT
鲜花(7) 鸡蛋(1)
发表于 2010-2-27 22:40 | 显示全部楼层
本来踏板就不是什问题的关键,recall也只不过是对大众的心理治疗罢了
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